We have visitors in this weekend so I’ve been browsing my recipe binders (yes, I have binders for my clippings) for simple, yummy food to prepare. I was reminded of Martha's panzanella; easy to knock together and great for summer (especially when the stores or your garden get overrun with tomatoes and basil).
A few comments: 1. The recipe has a typo - the amount of garlic you need is one clove. 2. Toasting the bread works fine if you don’t want/know how to grill or broil. 3. If you want to tone down the onions a bit, slice then soak them in a bowl of cold water (pat dry before including in recipe). The oil and vinegar also will take the edge off a bit.
We have visitors in this weekend so I’ve been browsing my recipe binders (yes, I have binders for my clippings) for simple, yummy food to prepare. I was reminded of Martha's panzanella; easy to knock together and great for summer (especially when the stores or your garden get overrun with tomatoes and basil).
A few comments: 1. The recipe has a typo - the amount of garlic you need is one clove. 2. Toasting the bread works fine if you don’t want/know how to grill or broil. 3. If you want to tone down the onions a bit, slice then soak them in a bowl of cold water (pat dry before including in recipe). The oil and vinegar also will take the edge off a bit.
For a fun outing with the kids, some quiet time on your own, or an alternative to the typical coffee break at work, consider this idea from Sharon:
“Summer brings an array of beautiful fruits and vegetables. If you lack yard space or the time to garden, but want to involve kids in the process of appreciating and picking their own produce, try visiting a local farmers’ market [click here for MA listings]. You don’t need to travel far or deal with unmanageable hoards waiting for a hayride. All you need is an appreciation for being outdoors and the feet to walk from one kiosk to another to see what hand picked items are available that day. I went to one of these markets last week and was pleasantly surprised to see fresh seafood, homemade cheeses, and craft items being sold alongside produce, beautiful wildflower bouquets, and potted herbs. Shopping these markets supports local farmers and impacts the environment by reducing the use of fuel required to ship items from far away.”
For your budding artist, Kate has praise for this welcome upgrade of classic grade school desks:
“Our 17-month old daughter has become increasingly interested in arts and crafts over the past few months - encouraged by her wonderful daycare teachers - so we started stocking fun art supplies and decided that it would be a good idea to have a designated art space in the apartment, both to foster her creativity and independence and to try to preserve our floors and furniture from stray marks. Many companies sell desks and chairs for toddlers, but they often are large and require more space than we have to spare in a city apartment. Fortunately, the Offi Doodle Desk provides the perfect solution: an all-in-one seat, desk, and storage drawer, the Doodle Desk is a good size and shape for little artists, while being stylish and space-efficient enough to suit most parents. Available in sky blue
and orange
, the Doodle Desk features a pine veneer which is remarkably easy to clean: most child-friendly markers and paints wash right off."
If you’re looking to simplify your shopping routine and enjoy a variety of organic groceries delivered to your doorstop, check out Boston Organics. Reader Jude from Medford (a happy Boston Organics customer for almost four years) wrote in with high praise for the Weekly Box service. The variety of produce encourages her family to try new foods, and her kids even see the delivery box and shout “fruit and veggies!” (she can’t guarantee that as a result for everyone, of course…).
Box options start at $27 and can include fruits, vegetables, or a mix of the two delivered every week or every other week. And if you have allergies or aversions to certain produce, you can request to not have them included in your produce box. Boston Organics also recently has added a variety of other grocery items to choose from, including bread, chocolate, and dairy. Click here to see their delivery areas.
It’s an amazing milestone to get beyond nursing and solid food purees to the stage where your kids can eat whatever you’re eating. But then the challenge shifts to figuring out healthful and easy meals for the whole family. Today, guest contributor Jules (our resident professional foodie) offers a recipe that packs a nutritional and visually vibrant punch. Click here for the printable PDF of Jules’s Fast & Healthy Mexican Stuffed Peppers (shown; click thumbnail to enlarge). Enjoy!
Good things can happen when Daddy stays home.
Live as of last month, stay at home dad inspired Sandbox Threads offers an impressive collection of funky, retro/vintage graphics printed on 100% cotton sweatshop-free tees and onesies. Among the Future Activist designs, we love the groovy, colorful promise offered by the Peace Baby Circle design (shown; $18.95).
Sandbox Threads’ designs can be printed on a variety of hip ringer tee/onesie color combinations in sizes 3 months – 6T. Word on the street is that they are thinking about offering adult sized shirts in the future. Let’s hope so.
One of my favorite signs of spring is “amoeba soccer,” the sight of a clump of little kids chasing a soccer ball with a spirited oblivion to the fine art of positioning and passing.
Clumping or not, budding enthusiasts, serious players, or parents in need of a means to move to a beat beyond “Get me more Cheerios, Mommy” ought to check out FoldFastGoals. These goals are handy for home use (particularly as the parks get overrun in the spring and summer) and stow conveniently in the off-season. Assembly is easy; just fit the six goal pieces together, place seven screws, and attach the netting. Once the goal is assembled, folding or opening the goal literally takes seconds, which means less time struggling with equipment and more time bending it like Becks.
Boston Mamas readers can enjoy a 10% discount using checkout code 109070001 at FoldFastGoals; the soccer
, lacrosse
, and hockey
goals also are available at Amazon.
And now, pursuant to our announcement about our impending regular guest contributors, here is Sara Cabot, with a feature on the power of peas (including recipes for babies up to adults!). Welcome, Sara!
“Early spring is a funny time for produce. The stored winter apples, squashes, and root vegetables are over and we find ourselves waiting impatiently for the first fruits and vegetables of summer.
In this ‘betwixt and between’ time, frozen fruits and veggies are always an option. They are easy to store and use; they are picked and frozen at source so are sometimes actually fresher than ‘fresh’ produce which may have sat around in a warehouse for weeks; they are reasonably priced too.
I realize that multiple cooking posts in the span of a few days makes clear my obsession with food, but a recipe this easy must be shared with my fellow mamas.
For our gathering yesterday with some of Laurel’s BFFs, we made vanilla cupcakes but subbed the vanilla frosting with this incredibly easy chocolate frosting recipe from our trusty Baking Illustrated. Bring 1 cup of heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Place 8 ounces of chopped semisweet chocolate (chips work great and lessen cleanup) in a bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Cover the bowl with foil and let it stand 5-10 minutes. Whisk mixture until smooth and velvety brown. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool and slightly firm, about 1 hour.
Avocados have long been a staple in our household, and after naptime today we’ll up our daily consumption by serving some friends the easiest and best guacamole recipe ever.
This recipe comes from The Border Cookbook
(a James Beard Award winner). Simple mash 2 ripe Haas avocados roughly, leaving some small chunks. Stir in 2 tablespoons of minced onion, 1 fresh minced Serrano or Jalapeno pepper, ½ teaspoon of salt, and the juice of ½ a lemon or lime (bottled juice works fine). Makes about 1 ½ cups; serve within 30 minutes of preparation.
These days, weekend gatherings with our friends and their kids tend to zone in on the brunch window; the timing works for various nap patterns, the prep is simple, and the food suits kids and adults. One easy and yummy go-to recipe in our brunch arsenal is the Sour-Cream Banana Coffee Cake from Real Simple
(shown; click thumbnail to enlarge).
My only revisions include not bothering to chop the chips (forgoing the extra step and associated cleanup with extra chips), and dispersing the chocolate-nut sugar and batter more loosely than by thirds (to better spread around the good stuff). Also, using ripe, frozen bananas in this and other banana bread recipes improves the taste. Just let the frozen bananas thaw in a dish, or defrost them in the microwave, before use.
The seasons are, blissfully, officially about to change, and no doubt your child’s wardrobe is due for some spring cleaning. It’s the perfect time to check out the fresh designs of Little Lark.
Based out of Portland, Oregon, Little Lark’s collection includes a variety of designs, most of which show clear inspiration from nature. Designs are letterpressed onto note cards, or are hand silk-screened onto snuggly soft, sweatshop free, 100% cotton shirts, onesies, pants, and hats (for babies and toddlers; big kid and adult sizes are forthcoming). Onesies and shirts also come with a gift-ready, reusable muslin bag that adds to the rich, organic feel.
With plenty of snow and ice still on the ground, the spring promise of the Geese Tee (shown, $24-$26) is especially welcome.
Jon and I currently are on a mission to develop a weekly dinner plan that: a) is simple and tasty for adults and kids; b) takes the ambiguity out of who’s doing what (we recently discovered I was assuming full responsibility for – and withholding bitterness over – meal prep on top of work and juggling Laurel at the end of the day); and c) gets more vegetables into us. If we get a good plan sorted out, we’ll be sure to share it; meanwhile, we have discovered how effective an excellent, simple vinaigrette is to inspiring salad consumption.
One challenge of passing the initial solid food dabbling phase (where its more about exposure than quantitative intake) is how to provide a variety of nutrients to accommodate tapering off of breast milk or formula, while dealing with your baby’s limited interest windows and tummy size.
Plum Organics offers an excellent solution for busy parents. In addition to their Real Smooth starter fruit and veggie purees (for babies 6 months and up), their More Texture collection (for babies 9 months and up) includes all-in-one meals well balanced to cover the basic food groups. Thoughtfully composed options such as the Chicken Whole Grain Pasta (organic chicken, carrots, peas, and whole grain pasta) and Red Lentil Veggie (organic potatoes, carrots, corn, and red lentils) pack a nutritional punch; sweet finishes include the Banana Peach Rice Pudding and Pears & Apples. Available in the freezer section of local retailers nationwide; from $2.89 to $3.49.
If you’re looking for something to do during today's snow day, easy kid’s craft activities are possible with minimal or recycled materials. Paper plate crafts or sock puppets are good options; the latter can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. We’ve found that two features (e.g., eyes and ears, or eyes and a tongue as with our fleece snake family) are enough to render an animal likeness that kids love.
I’m starting to think that our beautiful old house might better serve as a spring/summer vacation home.
This weekend, fed up with the frigid kitchen and drafty windows, I became obsessed with the idea of getting window draft stoppers. But everything online was uninspiring, plus I wanted them immediately. Plus I was nagged by the fact that I have a sewing machine, a big bag of fabric remnants, and the basic ability to sew right angles.
But what I seem to be short on these days is free time, so I decided to engage Laurel in the process, especially since I wanted to make some fun draft stoppers for the bay windows next to her “office.” So I took Laurel to the store to help me pick out rice (two 20-lb bags!). I showed Laurel the parts of my sewing machine while I unpacked and threaded it. And then I enlisted her in the important process of picking out just the right googly eyes to adorn her three “warm worms.” (Luckily this process inadvertently involved several repetitions of size/color sorting and dumping/refilling before the eyes were chosen.)
As someone who is personally and professionally obsessed with color I was blown away when I checked out the vibrant, modern designs of Avalisa.
Avalisa offers vivid wall art suitable throughout the home or in professional settings; their animal, color block, and things that go designs are particularly fabulous for kids’ décor. Designs are offered on a variety of colored backdrops (shown; green pandas), printed on canvas and hand-stretched on 1 1/2” deep stretcher bars, and come ready to hang. Three canvas sizes are available: 12x12” ($45), 18x18” ($75), and 28x28” ($115).
It’s typically difficult to make sense of any conversation when you have a collective of 12 adults and 4 preschoolers at dinner (as was the case Christmas Day), but the family went audibly and definitively berserk over the salmon cakes we brought for potluck. This recipe also happens to be Jon’s all time favorite; it works well during fall/winter (paired with rice pilaf and simple vegetables), spring/summer (over a bed of salad greens), for potluck (as evidenced by the empty platter I brought home), or as elegant little bite-sized appetizers for a New Year’s gathering. Enjoy!